Thunder in the Mountains

In 1877, the United States Army issued an ultimatum to the non-treay bands of the Nez Perce.  The document said they must abandon their traditional hunting grounds in thirty days and retire peacefully to the Lapwai Reservation or the army will move them by force.  Chief Joseph of the Wallowa Band agrees to move his people.  Unfortunately, a betrayal by white settlers and a series of rash acts by his own young men, sets his people on another path in defiance of the military order.

 

The ultimatum affects the lives of other people as well.  The young, white lawyer - Rob Stuart, raised in Chief Joseph's Band - becomes an advocate for the Nez Perce's rights.  Instead of fighting in the courts, he watched helplessly as the military forces his adopted people into war.  Also, in jeopardy are his new marriage to Becca and his fraigile friendships with her neighbors in the Wallowa Valley.

 

Relieved that her beloved ranch is no longer in jeopardy from a governmental confiscation, Becca also feels conflicted by the ultimatum.  Becca shared the Wallowa Valley peacefully with the Nez Perce every summer since she settled there.  She feels the loss of her friends among the tribe - especially, she'll miss Soaring Eagle, a senior warrior and his wife, Snow Bird and their child, Cub.  She, also, fears her husband's dangerous involvement with his adopted people, the Nez Perce.

 

As all the participants gather to face the oncoming storm, each must choose a path.